The recent Snapchat update that added “editions,” collections of articles or other content from media outlets such as CNN, Yahoo! News, ESPN, and People Magazine, may be functioning as something more than just another way to look at articles and videos. In the teenage world where Snapchat is scorching in popularity, this update, Discover, could be an unexpected and yet crucial link between teens and news.

The update arose, according to a post by Team Snapchat on the Snapchat blog, as a way to spread information that is curated by something other than popularity. “Social media companies tell us what to read based on what’s most recent or most popular,” said Team Snapchat in a Jan. 27 post, the day of Discovery’s release. “We see it differently. We count on editors and artists, not clicks and shares, to determine what’s important.”

Aisha Barrios Negrón agreed that the update would increase student awareness of the news. “Not a lot of teenagers sit down and watch the news,” explained the freshman, so if it is put “in a way that calls a little bit more our attention… everybody will actually see it.”

Junior Bob Okoroajuzie, although admitting that he himself “never thought [the update] was important,” also mentioned the app’s role in spreading word of the recent South Carolina shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer, the latest in a string of similar brutal events in the US.

Fellow junior, Gregory Williams, said that he does look at the Snapchat editions, however only when he is bored. Stressing the brevity of each post, (unlike many websites of media outlets, the Snapchat editions have a limited number of articles or videos, and refresh every 24 hours,) Williams said that Snapchat’s editions provided a more interesting approach to the news. “Instead of telling you all the boring parts like the daily news, it tells you the important parts that you do wanna hear,” Williams said.

If the update is indeed functioning as students like Barrios Negrón believe, this “bite-sized content,” as worded by a Wired magazine article, could help to get traditional news media alive. “The goal for these media companies, of course, is to hook a new, younger audience that doesn’t often connect with traditional media,” author Issie Lapowsky wrote in the Wired article.

Still, there are holes in the effectiveness of the update. The 12 bubbles, with editions from CNN, Comedy Central, Cosmopolitan, Daily Mail, Snapchat itself, ESPN, Food Network, National Geographic, People, Vice, Yahoo! News, and Warner Music, all, as is evident, range in content. With the tap of a finger, students can choose to look at articles like “10 Perfect Breakup Texts” on Cosmopolitan or “Trend Watch: The Top Food-Themed Dog Names” on Food Network, instead of news about ISIS on CNN.

Then, there are those who give the update little regard in the first place.

“There’s no point for that on Snapchat,” said sophomore Kiara Byam, who said that she would rather go to the actual website of a media outlet. She also admitted though, that she doesn’t do this anyway.

“They’re just on the side, and I think no one really cares about them,” said Snapchat user and junior Malaika Esslinger, in regards to the news bubbles, which occur on screen if you swipe to the farthest right page. “You just want to send pictures to someone,” Esslinger said, referring to Snapchat’s main and original purpose.

While a Snapchat-induced news Renaissance, (nay, news re-“Discovery”, if you’re in the mood,) does not seem to be around the corner, Snapchat is still roaring strong, and it is possible that the full effects of the update, combined with other trends in the digital world, might be yet unseen.